Geoffrey gave a hard shrug."Really, I don't care whether you make it or not." This statement was true. The less competition for him, the more likely he would succeed and easily slide through the rest of the phases of the exam. A finger scratched the top of his forehead as he proceeded to walk in the direction of Mary and Julius. Passing both of them by not saying anything to anyone after. Before disappearing into the caves he decided to give the group a warning," Better pray, that none of us meet on the same battle ground. I won't hold back." Providing greater emphasis on his point, the white haired devil boys tone of voice deepened. His menacing aura lingered, even during the moments after leaving....

Julius

"Just great, now we've made enemies with a possible brute. I was gonna give up my buttons considering how I picked up a few more than needed however, something tells me he would've been a problem in the future."Mentally Julius was relieved that Geoffrey decided to part ways with the group. Physically he was still paranoid and a bit on edge. However it seemed that Yume was going to join their little clique. Sure enough he wasn't exactly thrilled, but as long as she wasn't going crazy he didn't mind. Still she was an odd one that he didn't quite get.

"Oi Yume was it? Since grumpy Mcgee left, think you could at least spare three of those buttons you've collected to Yuuki? You've got an entire arsenal, just sparing a little wouldn't kill right?"

He carefully asked the girl as she seemed rather attached to Yuuki. He didn't know why but there was an advantage."Besides it could help her out into the next phase. I'm sure she'd appreciate it much." Fore finger and thumb stroked his chin, as if he had a beard, while a brow raised and a smirk narrowed its way onto his mouth.

It seems that Julius, Mary and Yuuki have made a few new friends and enemies as they attempt to pass through the caverns of the second phase. As tough as it is, they may have just wasted their best opportunity of finding the exit to the caves. And with their new addition to the group, they still have yet to experience all of the challenges and obstacles that await them. Meanwhile Makai tries his best to survive as well, meeting up with 'Camilla'. Much has happened this episode of Shounen Stars but what is next to come? What new adventures and challenges will our heroes face? Find out next time on Shounen Stars!!!

<Cue Ending Song>
====

Episode: 6

<Cue Opening>

Makai

Camillas hands were soft like a baby's butt. Did all girls have really soft hands or was it just that Makai met the ones with soft hands. After letting go, Makai dropped his book bag onto the ground.It was unzipped slowly as he wanted to make sure that most of what he started with was still there."Oh! My names Makai, what's yours?" Crouched over, he began to unbutton his black school uniform jacket and folded it nicely. Under he wore an average white collared shirt with buttons down the middle. The folded jacket was placed into the bag neatly, though it did increase its depth significantly. He struggled to zip up the bag all the way, the jacket and other and inner contents pushing back.

“What a jerk.” Yuuki scowled as the white haired boy turned a corner and vanished from view. She glowered after him for several seconds, as if she expected him to reemerge at any moment, until finally with an annoyed click of her tongue and a shake of her head Yuuki looked away. Skin on the back of her neck continued to prickle from the boy’s parting warning, but Yuuki felt more annoyed than anything else. Did Geoffrey have to be so… she puffed, the thought unfinished as she looked back at their group, and down at the girl with the wild eyes who was shuffling close again.

With a quick draw and release of air to calm herself down she gave the girl a smile. “If you could spare a button or two, I would really appreciate it, and it would let us focus on trying to find the exit.” She gave an easy shrug, “it’s no problem if you want to hold onto it, those are yours after all, but I would really appreciate it.”

-------

“Camilla.” She said, watching the boy with an eyebrow raised as he knelt and removed his jacket. The boy folded his clothing very carefully before squeezing it into the bag and started to zip his bag closed. The zipper, however seemed to have different plans and was protesting the additional baggage. “Man, how much did you pack into that thing?” After an extra second or two of watching him, and with a thin chuckle she knelt down across from him and helped to pull the two sides close. “Here, zip it now.” She said with a light smile.

“Guess we should try to find the exit next then?” She sighed.

//… and it was there, and her blade flicked out catching only air. She backed from the door, worn floorboards shivering with each misplaced step...// Fall of the Aelir Isles, Vol. III

When Julius asked Yumi for her buttons, he was more or less completely ignored. The bunny girl didn't even seem to had acknowledged his existence. Yet, when Yuuki asked the same question, the bunny girl reacted much differently...

"Yes! Anything for you!" Feverishly, Yumi took out her cute frilly pouch and unloaded most of the buttons into Yuuki's hand. She left only four for herself, just enough to get her pass the second phase. The pile of buttons, more than enough for the whole party, sat on Yuuki's hand as it shines against the dim light in the cave. Judging from the amount of buttons, the amount of people that Yumi had incapacitated was unbelievable, impossible.

"Hei... That's a lot of buttons..." Mary gulped. She felt extremely lucky that she had managed to fend off a murderous beast in Lolita skin with only a gash on her wrist. She also felt that she was quite reckless to actually try to fight Yumi...

Or perhaps... She too is a beast in her own right?

Mary pondered the possibility that her thai boxing skills had put her ability above most people in the examination. On the same manner, Julius's wit would give him about the same advantages too if he could fend off Yumi like he did. If that was the case, then the gang's chance of getting through the exam became much, much better.

Speaking of 'gang', Mary had realized that someone was yet to be found. "Say... Anyone saw Makai on the way?" She asked the gang, her soft voice echoed slightly in the cavernous cave, adding to the quiet ambience in the area.

Yume was quick to smash him down, however once Yuuki asked the crazy girl was more than happy to give up the entire arsenal of buttons she acquired. He rubbed his forehead trying to make sense of her. The more Julius tried, the more his head would hurt. It was better to just accept it as is, and move on. Arms crossing over his chest his gaze shifted slowly to Mary blinking a few times. For a long moment he paused."I hadn't seen him. If anything I assumed he would've been with Yuuki since he wasn't with you. I know he's apart of our little clique but let's not forget we still have to find the exit-"

A cough suddenly came about interrupting Julius towards the end of his statement. The air began to feel dry as he inhaled though Julius payed no mind to it."-We should at least prepare for the possibility that-" Again another cough came about, harder and nastier than the last. A stinging sensation crawled up his nose almost like the smoke from a blaze."-the hell is with the air all of a sudden?"Julius took a few sniffs. An odor of smoke trailing from where Geoffrey left the group.As he began to look closer at the exit a flame emerged.

"Aw crap! He must've lit the damn exit on fire to keep us from following! Sly bastard! We gotta run before we get charred!"

Julius dashed off in one direction as he feared for his life. Behind the fires, a menacing laugh could be heard as the blaze began to increase in size and engulf whatever it could.
====Makai

"Sure." With more ease the bag was zipped up easily. When the zipper connected to the end of the bag, Makai swung the bag to only one side of his body."So Camilla, which way do you think we should go?" Asking with uncertainty. There were many options. There were many paths. However from what Makai understood, there could only be one path that led to the exit? Right?"I'm not really the best with guessing...nor am I really smart." He looked towards the ground ashamed of himself.His brain was over loading itself trying to figure out not only where the exit was, but where his group had scampered off to.

“Hah?” Was all Yuuki could manage as she stared down at the awkward bunch of buttons that the girl had pushed into her hand. How had that little girl gotten this many buttons? The prickling feeling of warning prickled the hairs on the back of her neck again, and she felt certain it had been a good call to stop Yumi and Geoffrey from fighting. This was not the girl to get on the wrong side of, Yuuki felt certain. She carefully slipped the fistful of buttons into her pocket and gave Yumi a careful smile. “Thanks, you kept some for yourself, right?”

There was an arid scent in the air. Char. Smoke curled from the mouth of the passage Geoffrey had gone down, and a flickering light danced and brightened the longer she stared at it. Her wrinkled, and realization hit her with a sharp breath of warming air. Fire.

“Aw crap! He must've lit the damn exit on fire to keep us from following! Sly bastard! We gotta run before we get charred!" Julius called. Yuuki was frozen for a moment, scowling at the flames as they came into view.

“If I find that idiot, I swear if I catch him…” she growled as she turned on her heel. “Come on, let's hurry!” She stated, her voice smooth and level despite a growing feeling of panic as she started after Julius.

Camilla

“How do you ever hope to get anywhere with an attitude like that? I swear.” Camilla said with an exasperated sigh. She ran her fingers through her bangs, and studied the boy. He really did have zero self-confidence, and any form of indecision seemed to make him freeze up, still, she had given him a choice of any request and he had asked to be friends. The kid was weird, without any doubt, but for whatever reason that made her wish to help him. She forced a faint smile off of her lips that had formed while she wasn't paying attention and glanced up at their options. A lot of different crevices to squeeze into with no way to tell which was correct. She picked two at random which struck her fancy, one on the left one on the right, then dug her quarter out of her pocket.

“If you don't know what to do, then let chance decide.” She said, sliding her thumb under the coin. “Heads we go left, tails we go right.” She said, flicking the coin.

//… and it was there, and her blade flicked out catching only air. She backed from the door, worn floorboards shivering with each misplaced step...// Fall of the Aelir Isles, Vol. III

Yumi smiled brightly while still clinging to Yuuki, satisfied that she had assisted the object of her reverence in someway. It was indeed an unhealthy obsession, but Yumi was never a mentally healthy person in the first place. As usual, she also disregarded the existence of Julius as he suggested the next course of action for the group.

She couldn't simply ignore an alarming fire however.

Yuuki and Julius was quick on their feet and immediately made their escape. Mary took no time nor any opportunity to say any one liner and quickly ran after Yuuki.

Yumi, however, stared at the fire for a few seconds. Fire, in her eyes, was a beautiful thing. The warmth that hit her face, the heat it provides to keep humans comfortable, and death that it offered when one gets too close. Yumi couldn't deny, she had some pyromaniac tendencies within her. After indulging in the crackling sound of the fire, Yumi quickly ran after Yuuki as well.

Julius had no idea of where they had been running through. Every twist and turn seemed identical to the last. They had been sprinting through the cave system for only a few minutes however something didn't stand out right to him. Not once did the group ever bump into or come in contact with another group of individuals. He stopped running forward, feet sliding in the gravel floor picking up a dirt cloud."I think this is far enough. However something feels odd-" He paused for a moment. He slowly turned to the group that managed to follow him."-I think we might be getting close to the exit." His usual playful expressions were replaced with a more stern gaze.

"We should be careful where we step, the closer we get to the exit, the more likely we'll run into tra-"

Taking a blind step forward, under his foot he felt something sink into the ground. As soon he came to realize, it was already too late. A pressure plate! Hidden in the gravel under panic he lifted his foot up. Quickly after in the shadows of the cavern system a loud mechanical 'pop' triggered a mechanism. He knew it was coming from behind the group. Head managed to snap towards the direction it quickly came into view. A net! It looked wide enough to hold a small group of people captive.

"S-shit!"It was possible for the group to all be swallowed by the net or at least most of the members; if they weren't fast enough to dodge that is.
====

Makai

This girl was able to take charge rather easy. Something Makai himself struggled in. He could tell she was already frustrated and mentally blamed himself."S-sorry, I'm really trying. I am." Both forefingers pushed lightly at each other as he looked at his feet.She flipped another coin, this time it determined which path they would take. Left or right. After hearing the metal tap the skin of her hand he looked up to check the results. But before he could there was the sound of a small explosion. Followed by the tremors. A large amount of smoke began to slowly pour out of the left paths entrance. He jumped back startled, losing balance completely and falling to his butt.

There was a silence after the detonation, where a feint but steadily growing cackle began to develop. Footsteps and the sounds of metal buckles also grew before becoming present through the smoke at the left paths entrance. Makai was paralyzed. Terrified even of the individual that would create any form of detonation in such a enclosed and narrow area. Didn't they know they could all die?!

A moment before the person stepped through the smoke wall and revealed themselves twirling a red stick with a fuse popping from the top."My oh my, what do we have here? It would've been a shame if you guys got caught in my shortcut." The person wore a long sky blue hooded robe with an assortment of buckles and straps. His gray hair hung over his face concealing his eyes and the entirety of his face. To his side was a black leather satchel filled with identical red tubes like the one in his hand."Of course, you standing here means that you're contestants. And by the looks of your faces I can predict at least one of you have yet to find your buttons."

The twirling ceased."That's lucky for me then. See I have reason to believe on of you might be my my target. So if you'd gladly hand over your buttons-"In his other hand was a match. The red end was scraped along a stone wall being igniting a small fire. The fire touched the tip of the fuse and sparks flew from the surface. Slowly the fuse was burning as it was being twirled and the mysterious person cackled. "You've got forty seconds to decide before I...'blow'.

Yuuki
“Nearing the end huh? Does everyone have all the buttons they need, as I have a few ext-” there was a metallic click as Julius took a step backwards. Yuuki felt the hairs on the back of her neck bristle as a prickling sensation skittered up her spine. She kicked hard to her left, her shoulder hitting hard against the uneven wall of stone. A net flew past the spot she had been standing at only a moment before as it continued along its way to the rest of her party.

“Move!” Yuuki called, as she turned to look back the way the net had come from. Was it a trap placed by the instructors or a fellow student? An instructor, most likely, but there might be another team of students watching this trap. If too many of them got caught and if a larger group of participants showed up things would get messy fast.

A fight wasn't exactly what one wanted to face wearing a bikini and school blazer. With a quick movement of her thumb Yume buttoned her pocket closed, she could see if everyone had what they needed later, for now they just needed to get past the trap and keep moving. Yume glanced back over her shoulder to see who got caught in the net.

Camilla
Camilla caught the coin in the palm of her hand and slapped it onto the back of her opposite wrist. She lifted her hand to check, when the ground suddenly quivered and a muffled crack like a firework going off echoed through the room. A man strolled through the smoke billowing out of the passageway, twirling an explosive in his hand like some sort of baton. Great, another nutter, and this one was brilliant enough to use live explosions in a cave. Her eyes narrowed as the guy gave his ultimatum and lit the explosive.

She moved like she was surrendering to the man’s demand, her left hand moved to her pants pocket, while her right hand also dipped down. The coin slid easily down the smooth skin on the back of her hand and she caught it between her middle and index finger. She snagged one of her three buttons, the one that wasn't her’s or her target’s and held it up for the boy to see.

“Sorry bub, it's all I got.” She made a move like she was about to toss the badge over before her right hand snapped up and she flicked the coin at the boy’s hand that was holding the explosive. She kicked off a second later, a mad dash directly at the boy. She needed to wrestle the explosive out of his hand, and throw it down a passage, and she hoped the coin would startle him just enough to give her an edge. Then she could kick his ass and give Makai the button or whatever. The plan would either work or she’d get blown up. One of those two would happen

As Camilla darted close, she reached out for the tube in the boy’s hand.

//… and it was there, and her blade flicked out catching only air. She backed from the door, worn floorboards shivering with each misplaced step...// Fall of the Aelir Isles, Vol. III

Yuuki's dodge wasn't exactly graceful, but nonetheless, she did managed to avoid being engulfed by the net. Yumi, on the other hand, barely realized what was going on before she found herself flying forward at extreme velocity.

"Hiiiiyaaaaa!" The girl screamed hysterically, eyes tearing up from the all the thrill and fright that comes with being caught in a trap. This was more than enough to warn Mary of the impending danger. She glanced backward, saw the net and the girl heading towards her, and immediately dived out of the way. Mary rolled on her back and landed on her feet like a cat. She could only watch as Yumi was carried forward, helpless as the speed of the net suspended her within it.

"Julius! Move!!" Mary yelled over the top of her lungs, managing to get her voice louder than Yumi's frantic scream.

Although Yumi could summon any kind of sharp objects, and use it to free herself, being caught by surprise like this made her completely helpless. She requires a degree of focus for her power to work, and there wasn't any focus in the poor girl as she was flung along with the net. "hiiiiyyyaaa... no..." By the time she was near Julius, her scream had faded, and her consciousness gone.

"Huh?!" His head darted backwards but it was too late. Not only did it manage to capture Yumi, but Julius as well. The motion was too quick for him to react. By the time his body could even flinch, the net scooped him up. Feeling Yumi's body press up on his was rather painful at first. Considering how he could feel either an elbow or a knee come in contact in his crotch region with an undesirable amount of force. For a moment Julius grit his teeth, jaw clenching tighter than ever. Holding back a screech that could possibly break the ear drums of a grown man. As Yumi was cradled in Julius's arms, the nets movement began to swing back and forth. Face flushing red with agony there was a tiny part of him that wished for death. The two hung, robe that was weaved together was extremely thick, trying to gnaw out could possibly take hours or prove useless.

"Y-yeah...I'm f-fine...t-thanks for asking..."

Managing a small whine, the boys eyes began filling with tears as he bit his bottom lip. Yumi's body weight pressed further and further down on his 'man bits' with each passing second."Please one of you...just....please...get us out...please...I don't think I can last much longer.."
====Makai

At first the boy holding the explosives chuckled. Falling for Camilla's trick however led to a small window of him being distracted. And that's all that it took. At her dash his body jerked."S-shit! You're really going to just charge at me with an explosive ready to blow?" He was surprised. He knew she was going to try and disarm him the second she charged. Trying to out space her, the boy tried to take a step backwards but slipped. There was no choice. He was going to have to drop the tube to protect himself. Camilla was close, too close for comfort.

"Damn I totally didn't expect this chick to be so aggressive! I'll need to ensure my victory and use on last trick up my sleeve."

The boys free hand began to make its way towards one of the pockets in his jacket. He was getting ready to pull some sort of stunt. With that grin written on his face, he was sure confident."Let's take a gamble...the tube or the mystery item in my pocket. You only have one choice...."